


Warden and Champion

by Sixylicious



Series: Halla, Hawk, and Fox [14]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Blood Magic, Developing Relationship, Gen, The Calling, The Taint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-16
Updated: 2015-09-16
Packaged: 2018-04-21 00:40:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4808300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sixylicious/pseuds/Sixylicious
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hawke arrives at Skyhold - and she is not alone. Fenris, her lover, as well as the ailing Hero of Ferelden and her husband accompany her, seeking refuge like so many others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Warden and Champion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little Halla is Varric's nickname for Valythari. Stormy is his nickname for Eilian, due to Eilian's preference for storm magic. Continuity edits on 12/29/15.

Eilian met Varric on top of the battlements, Dorian trailing behind him as usual. Since their trip to Redcliffe had ended with an encounter with Halward Pavus, when Dorian wasn't in the library or tavern he was at Eilian's side. The dwarf raised a hand to stop them, shaking his head. "I'll show you to them, Inquisitor, but with all due respect, Sparkler needs to sit this one out."

"What? Why?" Dorian asked.

"Because Fenris is here, and he usually doesn't care that there's a difference between mage and magister when it comes to Tevinter," Varric explained. "Hawke isn't that fond of Tevinters either."

Dorian let out a sigh. It was always this. "I'm no magister and I'm no blood mage! How many times do I have to tell people here that?"

"I know, I know," Varric quickly said. "And that means Little Halla will warm up to you. Just give her a chance to get used to Stormy first. Then we'll tell them that you're here, then you can meet her. You need her on your side to make sure Broody doesn't try to put his hand through your chest when we get there."

Eilian glanced to Dorian, reaching up for a moment to rest his hand on the Tevinter mage's shoulder. "Varric's right, Dorian. Sit this one out. This is all new enough to them without throwing you into the mix. I'll find you later."

Dorian shrugged and Eilian pulled his hand away. "Alright, alright. I can tell when I'm not wanted. I'll be in the library."

Varric watched him go before turning back to Eilian. "Ready, Inquisitor?"

Eilian nodded. Varric led him back off the battlements, through the courtyard and into a side tower. Eilian hadn't even been aware reconstruction on this part of Skyhold had been completed, but apparently it had. After a while they stopped at a closed door, the only occupied suite in this section. Their guests, being who they were, wanted and deserved some semblance of privacy.

The dwarf knocked. Footsteps could be heard inside, approaching the door. The latch was pulled back and a moment later it opened just enough for two green eyes and a flash of white hair to be visible. "Who is it?"

"Broody, it's me. I have the Inquisitor with me," Varric said. "Mind if we come in?"

There was a pause as Fenris disappeared from behind the door, and a moment later it opened fully. The guests had received a three bedroom suite as Varric had requested. Eilian wasn't entirely sure why, since Varric had only mentioned that it would be Hawke, Fenris, Valythari, and Zevran, but he trusted the dwarf. Fenris beckoned them inside to where Hawke sat on a couch. She stood, her expression tired, and greeted Varric with a hug before she turned her gaze - greener than her lover's - to Eilian. "You must be the Inquisitor," she said. "Seren Hawke. I would say it's a pleasure but considering the circumstances..."

Eilian nodded in understanding and extended his hand for her to shake. "Good to meet you. Call me Eilian, please. And you're Fenris?"

Fenris nodded. "The others are in there," he said, gesturing behind him.

"How's Little Halla?" Varric asked. He moved past Eilian, toward a bedroom at the opposite end of the suite. He'd been there before, seen that they were settled in and gotten permission for Eilian to visit. Everyone followed him as if pulled by a rope. 

Seren sighed and shrugged. "You'd have to ask Zevran or Merrill. The journey wasn't easy on her, I know that much."

Merrill? Why was that name familiar? Eilian couldn't quite place it, but as they slipped into the bedroom and he spotted the three elves, the pieces quickly connected. Merrill had also been in Varric's book. Daisy, the blood mage, the former Dalish First who many believed responsible for the death of her Keeper and entire clan. Why hadn't Varric mentioned she was coming? Even as he thought it, Eilian knew why. He wouldn't have allowed her into Skyhold if he had known.

Valythari was curled up on the bed in Zevran's arms, seemingly asleep, the faint aura of magic around her. Eilian followed it back to Merrill, surprised only for a moment to see a thin cut on her wrist. He stiffened some. The only mages he had ever seen use blood magic so openly were the Venatori. To see another Dalish using it felt wrong. And hadn't Varric implied that Valythari wasn't fond of blood magic when he'd told Dorian to stay behind? Why would she let Merrill use it on her?

Zevran was the first to speak. "You must be the Inquisitor. I am Zevran. Mi amor is very ill, and Merrill is better at keeping her ailment at bay than Hawke."

"You mean the taint?" Eilian asked, dragging his eyes away from the bleeding cut on Merrill's wrist. To his surprise, the blood mage was the one to respond.

"Yes," she said. "Our Keeper once held it back like this for her. The taint won't respond to anything else."

"Why?" Eilian asked. The words slipped out before he could stop them and he could feel everyone in the room stiffen.

"Stormy..." Varric's voice was a warning, but Merrill did not seem offended.

"From your expression you know who I am and you know what this magic has cost me. Ma asa'ma'lin is all I have left. I won't lose her too."

Before Eilian could say anything else, Valythari stirred, her eyes fluttering open. Her vallaslin was dark against her skin, which itself was much paler than Eilian had expected. Her eyes, when they met his, were so pale they appeared almost white. She looked more dead than alive. Abruptly Eilian realized what was going on - she was becoming a ghoul. Even Grey Wardens eventually succumbed to the taint.

"Vhenan?" she breathed, searching for Zevran to reassure her.

Zevran took her hand, placing a gentle kiss on pale, pale skin. "I'm here, amor. We're at Skyhold now. This is the Inquisitor, Varric says he'll help us."

Merrill released her magic and stepped away, taking the elfroot potion Hawke offered as Zevran slowly helped his lover sit up so she could look Eilian in the eye. Could she see him? Her eyes were so clouded, was she blind? Eilian couldn't tell. 

"Inquisitor," she said, managing a tired smile. Blind or not, Valythari knew where his face was and directed her expression appropriately. "Thank you for having us."

"An'daran atish'an," Eilian answered. "It's an honor. You will be safe here, I promise. Call me Eilian."

"Enaste," Valythari said.

"How are you feeling, Val?" Hawke asked. "Do you need anything?"

"I could use water," Valythari said, her eyes slipping closed again. It took so much effort to keep them open.

"Do you have an herbalist here?" Merrill asked. "She's used all of her sleeping draught. I can make it, but not well."

"I'll have some sent up," Eilian said. "We have several herbalists and several healers. I'm the only Dalish, but there are other elves if that makes a difference."

Merrill looked to Zevran, who glanced between Hawke and Fenris and shrugged. "As long as they are competent," he said.

"Send Solas," Varric suggested, looking expectantly up at Eilian. "He's the best we have."

Eilian considered for a few moments and then nodded. While Solas wasn't fond of the Dalish, he was indeed the best healer in the Inquisition. Valythari truly needed the help; Eilian only hoped Solas would be able to see past her vallaslin with minimal complaint. "Solas it is. Should I have food sent up as well?"

Hawke shook her head and stood, Fenris immediately at her side. "No need, we'll come. I'd like to see more of Skyhold anyway."

"I'll show you around," Varric offered, "Provided Stormy can keep the Seeker away from me. She's still upset I knew where you were all along."

Seren laughed. Eilian turned to leave, though he hesitated and cast a glance back at the bed. "Leliana is here as well," he said, catching Valythari's attention. Pale grey eyes fluttered open again. "She's been worried about you. I can tell her you're here if you want."

"She already knows," Zevran said, glancing down at his lover. They communicated whole sentences in just that glance before Valythari closed her eyes once more. "But yes, do tell her. It has been many years... it would be nice to see an old friend again."

Merrill settled back down beside Valythari as Hawke, Fenris, Varric, and Eilian left. When the door closed behind them, she cut another line in her arm and summoned her magic once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ma asa'ma'lin - my sister
> 
> Elvhen credit to FenxShiral like usual.


	2. The Not-Dalish

Eilian returned to the suite later with Solas in tow. Merrill had since retired to her room, energy and magic drained by trying to hold back the taint. Fenris and Hawke were still gone, getting a tour of Skyhold from Varric. Eilian knocked once, waiting until he heard movement inside and the sound of the latch being unlocked. Zevran was the one who opened the door and motioned them inside. He led them to his and Valythari's room, where he returned to sit on the bed beside his lover. Valythari was sitting up and waiting for them, pale grey eyes fixed on the newcomers, Solas in particular.

"Solas," Eilian began, "This is Valythari, and her husband, Zevran Arainai." She'd asked not to be introduced as the Hero of Ferelden. He would respect that.

Solas inclined his head politely. "You are Dalish." He said, matter of fact and yet somehow elusive, the wisdom of ages far beyond his apparent years seeping through his words.

Valythari laughed, soft and airy, before she shook her head. "Only by the vallaslin I wear. I have no clan save the family I surround myself with. I have not been Dalish since before the Blight, long before my blade slew my Keeper atop Sundermount."

"And yet you still wear blood writing, binding yourself to their Evanuris," Solas remarked, his eyes narrowed, thoughtful. "Why? You say you are not Dalish, but do you believe?"

"I believe they existed, but I do not believe they were gods," Valythari replied. "I believe the Creators existed, the Dread Wolf existed, the Forgotten Ones existed, and I believe in Andraste because I witnessed the power of her ashes with my own eyes. And I believe the Old Gods of Tevinter existed, because I have fought one and lived. As for my vallaslin... when I still believed, I chose Ghilan'nain because she rose above what she once was. 'Ma'sa'lath and I aspired to be like that, to be more than what we were originally."

Solas seemed perhaps amused, even pleased, though his expression quickly returned to neutral. "I have only rarely met an elf who bears vallaslin with no belief in the beings it represents," he said as he took a seat at the foot of the bed. Valythari only smiled, her expression just as cryptic. Solas raised a hand and called his magic and the Veil pulsed blue around them; for a moment Eilian was sure that they were both so much more than what was apparent. He blinked and it was gone.

Valythari leaned back into her lover's embrace once more. "There are few of us who have seen what I have."

Solas let out a laugh of his own in response. "Indeed. You are closer to the Fade than any non-mage I have seen in quite a long time. Perhaps that is why."

"Perhaps," Valythari echoed. "Or perhaps not. I have always been close to the Fade, even before I walked in it alongside ma vhenan, my brother, and some dear friends. My father was our clan's First before his death."

"You have magic in your blood," Solas agreed. Was that nostalgia in his expression ever so briefly before it flitted away? "And you speak with a wisdom I have never seen in the Dalish... No offense meant, Inquisitor."

Eilian blinked, startled out of his thoughts. The stories all said that Merrill had been the one to kill Sabrae's Keeper, but it had been Valythari? "I know your opinions on the Dalish, Solas. I'm not offended, simply wondering if you can help her at all."

Solas turned his attention back to Valythari, examining her with his magic and a careful, practiced eye. "You are ravaged by the Blight... when were you afflicted?"

"A decade ago," she responded.

"You are a Grey Warden then, to still be alive despite this strong of an infection?"

Valythari nodded. "I am."

"You spoke of slaying an Old God... am I to guess you mean Urthemiel? You were infected at the beginning of the Fifth Blight," Solas guessed. "You became a warden and you ended it. I recognize you from the Fade at Ostagar."

"That's all true," Valythari answered. "Being a warden only holds the taint off for so long, and I was infected before my Joining. You're a Dreamer then? The Veil at Ostagar was thin, but not so thin as to be crossed in other ways."

"I am, yes, and an accomplished healer. Perhaps I can help you."


End file.
